Method, apparatus and computer program product for accessing a local area scoped network having non-access-stratum procedures

ABSTRACT

The present invention addresses a method, apparatus and computer program product for accessing a local area scoped network having non-access-stratum procedures, such as a MuLTEfire network, which implement identifying an available access point of the local area scoped network having non-access-stratum procedures, transmitting a message to the access point, indicating a request for retrieving network information, wherein the information are queried from the network before authorization and actually connecting to the network, selecting a service provider of the network based on received network information for binding the network identity to the selected service provider for accessing, and conveying a Non-Access Stratum service request to the network to cause authentication of the user equipment for connecting to the network.

This patent application is a U.S. National Stage application ofInternational Patent Application Number PCT/EP2016/081703 filed Dec. 19,2016, and claims priority to International Patent Application NumberPCT/EP2015/080560 filed 18 Dec. 2015, each of which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to wireless communicationnetworks, and more specifically relates to a method, apparatus andcomputer program product for improved accessing a local area scopednetwork having non-access-stratum procedures, in particular a networkaccording to the MuLTEfire technology.

BACKGROUND

Mobile data transmission and data services are constantly makingprogress, wherein such services provide various communication services,such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. In recentyears, Long Term Evolution LTE™, and in particular LTE-Advanced™, hasbeen specified, which uses the Evolved Universal Terrestrial RadioAccess Network E-UTRAN as radio communication architecture according to3GPP specification.

Recently, a technology initiative called MuLTEfire (MF) has beenestablished. MF is communications system where LTE radio technology isapplied to unlicensed radio band. The difference to the currentlyon-going Licensed Assisted Access (LAA/LTE-U) activities is that in MFthere is not expected to be macro network nor licensed carriers in use,but instead MF is a standalone system designed to operate on unlicensedband frequencies.

MF can operate e.g. on the same 5 GHz band as WLAN does. Otherunlicensed frequencies are available or may become available at around3.5 GHz, at 7 GHz, at 60 GHz and/or in several high frequency bandsabove 6 GHz. Further unlicensed spectrum slices may be appear in lowfrequencies below 1 GHz. MF technology is also subject of the ‘MulteFireAlliance’.

However, for local area scoped network having non-access-stratumprocedures, in particular (but not restricted to) MuLTEfire systems,there is the need for providing an improved network selection.

As a related prior art in WLAN, a query protocol (Access Network QueryProtocol (ANQP) [IEEE802.11u]) was specified to allow a device toretrieve information of available service Providers from a WLAN networkbefore authentication and before association. This information obtainedbeforehand is crucial for the UE to decide, which network to connect to.It is typical that in dense area a large number of overlapping networksare available and a large number of Access Points to connect to, can befound. It is important to know beforehand, which Access Points belong towhich networks and which services each of the networks provide. ANQP ise.g. in use for this purpose in the set of Hotspot (Passpoint)protocols.

As another distant prior art, LTE networks can let UE provide anemergency indication during initial attach request and in that case anetwork may provide access to the limited emergency services withoutauthentication. However, in LTE environment in general there is no needand hence there is no solution that enables a UE to retrieve networkaccess related information or network service information beforeattaching/authenticating to it.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, in order to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art, it is anobject underlying the present invention to provide improved accessing alocal area scoped network having non-access-stratum procedures, inparticular a network according to the MuLTEfire technology.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide amethod, apparatus and computer program product for enhanced query ofservice providers in a MF network.

This object is achieved by a method, apparatus and computer programproduct as defined in the accompanying claims.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is providedmethod for a user equipment for accessing a local area scoped networkhaving non-access-stratum procedures, which may be performed by a userequipment, comprising identifying an available access point of the localarea scoped network having non-access-stratum procedures, transmitting amessage to the access point, indicating a request for retrieving networkinformation, wherein the information is queried from the network beforeauthentication/authorization and actually connecting to the network,selecting a service provider of the network based on received networkinformation for binding the network identity to the selected serviceprovider for accessing, and further conveying a Non-Access Stratumservice request to the network to cause authentication of the userequipment for connecting to the network.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is providedmethod for enabling access of a user equipment to a local area scopednetwork having non-access-stratum procedures, which may be performed ina network element of a MF network, comprising receiving a message fromthe user equipment, indicating a request for retrieving networkinformation, wherein the information is queried from the network beforeactually connecting to the network, accepting the request withoutauthentication and transmitting network access information to the userequipment, upon receiving information about a selection of a serviceprovider by the user equipment, binding the network identity to theselected service provider for accessing, and upon receiving a Non-AccessStratum service request from the user equipment, allowing authenticationof the user equipment for connecting to the network.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is providedan apparatus including a function for a user equipment for accessing alocal area scoped network having non-access-stratum procedures,comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory for storinginstructions to be executed by the processor, wherein the at least onememory and the instructions are configured to, with the at least oneprocessor, cause the apparatus at least to perform identifying anavailable access point of the local area scoped network havingnon-access-stratum procedures, transmitting an associate request messageto the access point, indicating a request for retrieving networkinformation, wherein the information is queried from the network beforeauthorization and actually connecting to the network, selecting aservice provider of the network based on received network informationfor authorizing binding the network identity to the selected serviceprovider for accessing, and further conveying a Non-Access Stratumservice request to the network to cause authentication of the userequipment for connecting to the network.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is providedan apparatus including a function for enabling access of a userequipment to a local area scoped network having non-access-stratumprocedures, comprising at least one processor, and at least one memoryfor storing instructions to be executed by the processor, wherein the atleast one memory and the instructions are configured to, with the atleast one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform receivingan associate request message from the user equipment, indicating arequest for retrieving network information, wherein the information isqueried from the network before actually connecting to the network,accepting the associate request without authentication and transmittingnetwork access information to the user equipment, upon receivinginformation about a selection of a service provider by the userequipment, binding the network identity to the selected service providerfor accessing, and upon receiving a Non-Access Stratum service requestfrom the user equipment, allowing authentication of the user equipmentfor connecting to the network.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda computer program product comprising computer-executable componentswhich, when the program is run, are configured to carry out the methodaccording to the first or the second aspect.

Advantageous further developments or modifications of the aforementionedexemplary aspects of the present invention are set out in the dependentclaims.

According to certain embodiments of the present invention, the localarea scoped network having non-access-stratum procedures is a networkaccording to the MuLTEfire technology.

According to certain embodiments of the present invention, the networkinformation comprise at least one of access information, information ofat least one service provider of the network, and other information,such as network metrics, in a MF network. That is, it is possible toquery further information than service provider information, such as thenetwork metrics in a MF network.

Further, according to certain embodiments of the invention, the networkinformation is exchanged with the network in at least one of Non-AccessStratum signaling and Radio Resource Control signaling messages.

Moreover, according to certain embodiments of the present invention, thenetwork metrics may comprise information about at least one ofcapabilities and performance metrics of the network

Thereby, according to certain embodiments of the present invention, themetrics comprise at least one of a Physical Resource Block load,indicated for example by a percentage of Physical Resource Blocks usedper sub-frame averaged over a large number of sub-frames, a PhysicalResource Block peak to average ratio, indicated by the ratio of theshort term peak number of Physical Resource Blocks occupied divided bythe long term average Physical Resource Block usage, an average PacketData Convergence Protocol Service Data Unit delay between the accesspoint and the user equipment, and a Channel Quality Indicator loadaveraged over a specific time, indicative of the interference load inthe network. Also, the used bandwidth allocations due carrieraggregation impact on the percentage of PRB load i.e. if getting onecomponent carrier for allocations, the PRB load can be higher comparedto allocating on multiple component carriers. Bandwidth and/or carrieruse indication can be included to a load metric too.

Other load metrics due to unlicensed band operation can be included,either together with the mentioned ones or without them. Load canindicate free airtime percentage as free/busy time ratios over ameasurement period. Listen-Before-Talk procedures, contention basedaccess principles and collision probabilities have an impact to thesemeasures. As said, frequency use has a large impact. There can be anopportunity for a frequency reuse 1 operation between MF-APs in the samenetwork so that some MF-APs of the same network can simultaneouslyoperate on the same frequency without mutual channel competition, whilethey compete for free channels only relative to the other ‘alien’ MF-APsor other transmitters, like WLANs. Therefore, channel competition canimpact the other metrics like the PRB load. If MF transmitter does notget the channel, the buffers will be filled with more data in themeanwhile (queueing), which leads to a higher PRB load in the nextphase. Further, once competing for the channel per component carrier,times with higher bandwidth allocation can serve high load in shortertime compared to serving the load in smaller bandwidth. This has animpact on the observed load metric, depending on its preferredcalculation.

According to certain embodiments of the present invention, no bearerestablishment is allowed while the user equipment is associated (but notyet ATTACHED) to the network in a limited manner during the queryprocedure.

Further, according to certain embodiments of the present invention, atemporary Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) is used forsignaling the allocations of radio resources needed for the queryprocedure. The C-RNTI is validated into the communication use afterauthentication and interface (bearer) setup.

Still further, an example mechanism to identify the service provider isbinding the network identity to the Fully Qualified Domain Name FQDN ofthe selected service provider for accessing, wherein any format may beused as long as the participating entities mutually understand it or areable compare and detect matching identity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of example embodiments of the presentinvention, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a method performed in a user equipment, such as any3GPP device category including smart phones, laptops, wearables,communicators, pads, machines and internet of things, according tocertain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a method performed in a network element of a localarea scoped network having non-access-stratum procedures, in particulara network according to the MuLTEfire MF technology.

FIG. 3 depicts a general structure of an apparatus comprised in a userequipment, including a function for accessing the user equipment to alocal area scoped network having non-access-stratum procedures (e.g. MFnetwork);

FIG. 4 depicts a block diagram of an apparatus comprised in a networkelement, including a function for enabling access of a user equipment toa local area scoped network having non-access-stratum procedures (e.g.MF network);

FIG. 5 schematically shows a protocol stack according to certainembodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is an example of Non-Access Stratum NAS procedures with query ina MF network.

FIGS. 7a and 7b schematically show state diagrams of a user equipment ina MF network, wherein a combination of 3GPP states and MF states areshown in FIG. 7a , and standalone MF states are shown in FIG. 7 b.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a NAS procedure for access to a MF networkcomprising a query for identification of Participating Service Providers(PSP).

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary aspects of the present invention will be described hereinbelow. More specifically, exemplary aspects of the present invention aredescribed hereinafter with reference to particular non-limiting examplesand to what are presently considered to be conceivable embodiments ofthe present invention. A person skilled in the art will appreciate thatthe invention is by no means limited to these examples, and may be morebroadly applied.

It is to be noted that the following description of the presentinvention and its embodiments mainly refer to specifications being usedas non-limiting examples for certain exemplary network configurationsand deployments. Namely, the present invention and its embodiments aremainly described in relation to 3GPP as well as MuLTEfire specificationsbeing used as non-limiting examples for certain exemplary networkconfigurations and deployments. As such, the description of exemplaryembodiments given herein specifically refers to terminology which isdirectly related thereto. Such terminology is only used in the contextof the presented non-limiting examples, and does naturally not limit theinvention in any way. Rather, any other network configuration or systemdeployment, etc. may also be utilized as long as compliant with thefeatures described herein.

Some example versions of the disclosure and embodiments are describedwith reference to the drawings. In the following, different exemplifyingexamples will be described using, as an example of a communicationnetwork, a cellular wireless communication network, such as an LTE orMuLTEfire based system. However, it is to be noted that the presentinvention is not limited to an application using such types ofcommunication system, but is also applicable in other types ofcommunication systems, be it wireless systems, wired systems or systemsusing a combination thereof.

Hereinafter, various embodiments and implementations of the presentinvention and its aspects or embodiments are described using severalalternatives. It is generally noted that, according to certain needs andconstraints, all of the described alternatives may be provided alone orin any conceivable combination, also including combinations ofindividual features of the various alternatives. Also, the favorableexecution order of features, procedures may differ in differentdeployments or implementations.

In particular, the following examples versions and embodiments are to beunderstood only as illustrative examples. Although the specification mayrefer to “an”, “one”, or “some” example version(s) or embodiment(s) inseveral locations, this does not necessarily mean that each suchreference is to the same example version(s) or embodiment(s), or thatthe feature only applies to a single example version or embodiment.Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provideother embodiments. Furthermore, words “comprising” and “including”should be understood as not limiting the described embodiments toconsist of only those features that have been mentioned and such exampleversions and embodiments may also contain also features, structures,units, modules etc. that have not been specifically mentioned.

In general, a wireless communication network comprises plural networkelements, such as evolved NodeB's (eNB; i.e. base station in LTE/LTE-Aenvironment), user equipments UE (e.g. mobile phone, smart phone,Computer, etc.), controllers, interfaces, etc, and in particular anyequipment used in the provision of a communications service.

The general functions and interconnections of the described elements,which also depend on the actual network type, are known to those skilledin the art and described in corresponding specifications, so that adetailed description thereof is omitted herein. However, it is to benoted that several additional network elements and signaling links maybe employed for a communication to or from a base station and acommunication network besides those described in detail herein below.

As already indicated above, the present invention provides an improvednetwork selection for local area scoped network havingnon-access-stratum procedures, in particular (but not restricted to)MuLTEfire systems.

Currently, on the radio interface, MF relies on LTE technology. Whileoperation on unlicensed spectrum requires changes to the LTE technology,the design goal is to have as few modifications as possible. The LTEradio physical layer and related protocols are being modified for theunlicensed spectrum operation including Listen-Before-Talk (LBT)mechanisms for a fair channel access between systems. The currentlydefined LTE unlicensed access relies on control information andsignaling exchanged on the licensed carrier. The licensed carrier actsas Primary carrier or Primary cell (PCell), whereas the unlicensedcarrier acts as Secondary Carrier or Secondary cell (Scell). MF isexpected to operate entirely on the unlicensed carriers. If MF hasPrimary and Secondary carriers or Primary and Secondary Cells, they areall on unlicensed spectrum. In MF, it is possible to change a Primarycarrier to another carrier, or the Secondary carrier to another carrieror inter-change a Primary carrier to Secondary and vice versa.

In the MF architecture, the radio interface terminates in the UE and inthe MF Access Point on the network side. For simplicity, in thefollowing the MF Access Point is also referred to as MF-AP. As onealternative, MF-AP can be connected to a conventional core network, i.e.Evolved Packet Core (EPC). In another deployment alternative, MF-AP canbe connected to a MF core network (MF CN), which realizes the minimumset of necessary core network functions for the MF operations, in alocal network domain. MF CN is intended to be as simple as possible, thetarget is to be able to realize MF core network in one physical networkequipment (SW/HW). MF core network can be realized as a virtualizedimplementation allowing cloud implementation. When MF network isdeployed with the MF core network, the network setup may resemble WLANdeployment, however operating with 3GPP protocols. The MF CN may becalled mini-EPC, as an example.

As with any other communication system, MF networks need to beidentified uniquely in order the UE to select which network to connectto and which service provider to select. This has importance both in theinitial network access and during mobility procedures like handover withor without crossing network boundaries. For example, 3GPP networks areidentified with Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) identities that inpractice identify the (licensee) operator of the network. It is assumedthat PLMN based MF network selection is possible when MF is used as LTEextension e.g. as unlicensed LTE nodes or as LTE subnets. However, MF isnot limited to the LTE mode only; it has also local serviceprovisioning, independent of PLMNs, here referred to as the local MFmode. This way, MF provides an opportunity for access operators andservice providers (like Internet Service Providers, ISP), who do nothave cellular licenses and who do not operate PLMNs, neither haveregistered/licensed PLMNI Ds.

A single MF network can be connected to multiple operators having PLMNIDor alternatively to Internet Service Providers. A Service Provider inthis context is any “operator” who can perform the authentication (andcharging) of a user to the network. This has some similarity to how theService Providers may use WLAN access in hotspots. In a local areascoped network having non-access-stratum (NAS) procedures, a userequipment UE should learn the available Service Providers and shouldknow whether the preferred Service Provider is available before itattaches to the network. The UE needs to indicate to the MF networkwhich Service Provider it would like to use for authentication. ServiceProvider selection also defines used CN network and it is the CN whichinitiates authentication.

The problem is that the number of Service Providers offeringconnectivity from a single access network can be high and theiridentities can be long. As said, the Service Providers of MF cannot beexpected to be cellular network operators having a PLMNID. Rather, theService Providers, in general, are identified by their Fully QualifiedDomain Names (FQDN). For these reasons, to advertise the fullidentifiers of all the available Service Providers in broadcast messagesis not a feasible solution. Advertising short format of the identifiersof the Service Providers might be possible, but the short format of theidentifiers is not understandable for the end-users and hence manualselection is not convenient enough. Assigning short formats for FQDNs,the formats of which would be unique, may be challenging. In particular,if automatically generating short formats, their uniqueness may noteasily be guaranteed.

In NAS access, the cellular network user identification used forregistration (customer info) is needed in addition to getting the IPaddress for networking. These allow privacy, security and charging as anexample.

In the following description of embodiments of the invention, themessage indicating a request for retrieving network information may, asa non-limiting example, also be referred to as an ‘associate request’message. This exemplary terminology expresses the purpose of e.g.associating a UE to a (MF-) network for connecting to the network.

According to certain embodiments of the invention, signaling proceduresto access a MF network by the MF:NAS_Service_Request message, accordingto the 3GPP Non-Access Stratum NAS protocols are disclosed. The set ofprocedures include MF:NAS_Query, which can be used to query informationfrom the MF network before actually connecting to the MF network andbefore executing the network ATTACH. These procedures are needed toavoid the accessing UE to attempt switching from the idle state to theconnected state to a MF network, where no suitable PLMN or ServiceProvider would be available. Further the MF:NAS_Query is used by the UEto obtain network metrics from the MF network before the ATTACH attempt,to evaluate, whether the MF network is capable of well serving the UE interms of expected network load and offered quality.

The solution according to an aspect of the invention basically comprisesthe following steps. At first, the UE sends a MF:Associate_Request witha new request type, which indicates that UE retrieves access information(e.g. names of available access network providers or Service Providers),before the actual MF:NAS_Service_Request will be executed. Then, thenetwork may accept the MF:Associate_Request without authentication forexchanging a limited and defined set of network Query Informationelements. The information can be exchanged un-ciphered. The network inthis phase allows the UE to send only a limited set of special type ofmessages or Information elements in a message for the Query, and thenetwork hence delivers the requested information. The requestedinformation provided by the network may be an exact response to thequery of the UE, or the network may append the information to a suitablelength. The network may also include optional information elements toits query response. After receiving sufficient information, the UE maydecide to attempt network access and will transmit the actualMF:NAS_Service_Request in the NAS message, which also terminates theQuery. The NAS termination point in the network (MME similar to thelegacy LTE networks, mini-EPC in MF, or MF CN) can send replies to theserequests in the NAS messages or initiate other dedicated signaling withthe UE.

Thereby, the UE and the network should terminate the session after ashort time of query. No bearer (“eps-bearer”) establishment is allowedwhile the UE is associated (but not yet ATTACHED) to the network in thislimited manner. After the MF:NAS_Service_Request is served by thenetwork and after the authentication is successful, the UE changes tothe ATTACHED state.

The NAS service request can include an identity of a UE or a user interms given by the Service Provider. Such identity can have a form of abit field, a uniform resource name (urn), a temporary subscriberidentity, any service provider given user identity, e.g. a number, or anidentity that is valid in a given MF network.

FIG. 1 illustrates a method for accessing a user equipment to a localarea scoped network having non-access-stratum procedures (e.g. MFnetwork) performed in a user equipment according to certain embodimentsof the invention.

In Step S11, an available access point of the local area scoped networkhaving non-access-stratum procedures is identified.

In Step S12, a message, such as e.g. an associate request messageMF:Associate_Request, is transmitted to the access point, indicating arequest for retrieving network information (e.g. comprising at least oneof information of at least one service provider of the network, networkmetrics and any access information), wherein the information is queriedfrom the network before authenticating and actually connecting to thenetwork.

Further, in Step S13, a service provider of the network is selectedbased on received network information for binding the network identityto (e.g. the Fully Qualified Domain Name) the selected service providerfor accessing.

Then, in Step 14, a Non-Access Stratum service requestMF:NAS_Service_Request is conveyed to the network to causeauthentication of the user equipment for connecting to the network.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method for enabling access of a user equipment to alocal area scoped network having non-access-stratum procedures (e.g. MFnetwork) performed in a network element (e.g. of a MF network) accordingto certain embodiments of the invention.

In Step S21, a message, such as an associate request messageMF:Associate_Request, is received from the user equipment, indicating arequest for retrieving network information, information (e.g. comprisingat least one of information of at least one service provider of thenetwork, network metrics and any access information), wherein theinformation is queried from the network before actually connecting tothe network.

In Step S22, the (associate) request is accepted without authenticationand transmitting network access information to the user equipment.

Further, in Step S23, upon receiving information about a selection of aservice provider by the user equipment, the network identity is bound tothe (e.g. Fully Qualified Domain Name of) the selected service providerfor accessing.

Then, in Step 24, upon receiving a Non-Access Stratum service request,MF:NAS_Service_Request from the user equipment, authentication of theuser equipment for connecting to the network is allowed.

In FIG. 3, a diagram illustrating a configuration of an elementcomprised in a user equipment implementing a function for accessing auser equipment to a local area scoped network having non-access-stratumprocedures (e.g. MF network) according to some example versions of thedisclosure is shown. The embodiment may be carried out in or by the userequipment. It is to be noted that the user equipment may compriseelements or functions, such as a chipset, a chip, a module etc., whichcan also be part of the user equipment or attached as a separate elementto the user equipment, or the like. It should be understood that eachblock and any combination thereof may be implemented by various means ortheir combinations, such as hardware, software, firmware, one or moreprocessors and/or circuitry.

The apparatus 3 shown in FIG. 3 may comprise a processing function,control unit or processor 31 such as a CPU or the like, which issuitable for executing instructions given by programs or the likerelated to the network element control procedure.

The processor 31 is configured to execute processing related to theabove described access to a local area scoped network havingnon-access-stratum procedures (e.g. MF network). In particular, theprocessor 31 comprises a sub-portion 310 as an identification unitconfigured to identify an available access point of the local areascoped network having non-access-stratum procedures. The portion 310 maybe configured to perform processing according to S11 of FIG. 1.Furthermore, the processor 31 comprises a sub-portion 310 usable as atransmission unit configured to transmit a message to the access point,indicating a request for retrieving network information, wherein theinformation is queried from the network before authentication andactually connecting to the network. The portion 311 may be configured toperform processing according to S12 of FIG. 1. Still further, theprocessor 31 comprises a sub-portion 312 usable as a selection unitconfigured to select a service provider of the network based on receivednetwork information for binding the network identity to the selectedservice provider for accessing. The portion 312 may be configured toperform processing according to S13 of FIG. 1. Moreover, the processor31 comprises a sub-portion 313 usable as a processing unit configured toconveying a Non-Access Stratum service request to the network to causeauthentication of the user equipment for connecting to the network. Theportion 313 may be configured to perform processing according to S14 ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 4 depicts a block diagram of an apparatus comprised in a networkelement, including a function for enabling access of a user equipment toa local area scoped network having non-access-stratum procedures (e.g.MF network). It should be understood that each block and any combinationthereof may be implemented by various means or their combinations, suchas hardware, software, firmware, one or more processors and/orcircuitry.

The network element 4 shown in FIG. 4 may comprise a processingfunction, control unit or processor 41 such as a CPU or the like, whichis suitable for executing instructions given by programs or the likerelated to the network element control procedure.

The processor 41 is configured to execute processing related to theabove described access to a local area scoped network havingnon-access-stratum procedures (e.g. MF network). In particular, theprocessor 41 comprises a sub-portion 410 as a reception unit configuredto receive a message from the user equipment, indicating a request forretrieving network information, wherein the information is queried fromthe network before actually connecting to the network. The portion 410may be configured to perform processing according to S21 of FIG. 2.Furthermore, the processor 41 comprises a sub-portion 411 usable as anaccepting unit configured to accepting the request withoutauthentication and transmitting network access information to the userequipment. The portion 411 may be configured to perform processingaccording to S22 of FIG. 2. The portion 410 may be configured to performprocessing according to S21 of FIG. 2. Furthermore, the processor 41comprises a sub-portion 412 usable as binding unit configured to bind,upon receiving information about a selection of a service provider bythe user equipment, the network identity to the selected serviceprovider for accessing. The portion 412 may be configured to performprocessing according to S23 of FIG. 2. Still further, the processor 41comprises a sub-portion 413 usable as processing unit configured to,upon receiving a Non-Access Stratum service request from the userequipment, allow authentication of the user equipment for connecting tothe network. The portion 413 may be configured to perform processingaccording to S24 of FIG. 2.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, reference signs 32, 42 and 33, 43 denote transceiveror input/output (I/O) units (interfaces) connected to the processor 31,41. The I/O units 32, 42 may be used for communication with theelements. The I/O units 33, 43 may be used for communicating with amanagement application. Reference sign 34, 44 denotes a memory usable,for example, for storing data and programs to be executed by theprocessor 31, 41 and/or as a working storage of the processor 31, 41.

FIG. 5 schematically shows a protocol stack according to certainembodiments of the invention. An UE 51 is connected to a MF networkelement 53 via a MF-AP 52. The UE 51 comprises layers, such as radiolayers, Radio Resource Control RRC and Non-Access Stratum NAS, whereasthe MF network element 53 comprises transport layers and Non-AccessStratum NAS.

The new messages are transferred between the UE and MF Network Elementin NAS signaling. They are transparent to MF-AP 52, and it is possibleto apply encryption to provide some level of security (e.g. privacy).Note that this does not mean that the UE 51 and the network authenticateeach-other yet.

FIG. 6 is an example of Non-Access Stratum NAS procedures with query ina MF network. The phases include 1) network identification, 2) query, 3)service request, 4) interface setup and 5) mobility.

The network identification includes a network-type equal to MF andnetwork identity, which has a defined relationship to the serviceprovider. The relationship of MF identity to the service provideridentity may be a HASH function, or MF identity can be a given identityfor a given service provider (e.g. assigned by some organization).

NAS associate request, MF:NAS_Associate_Request, may be quite aminimized procedure as follows; after the UE has selected a MF-AP basedon signal measurements and based on its advertised MF identity tocommunicate with, the MF-AP uses a temporary-cRNTI (Cell Radio NetworkTemporary Identifier) for signaling the allocations of radio resourcesfor the query phase. The actual c-RNTI can later be assigned for useduring and after the radio bearer setup. As a novelty, c-RNTI canidentify the UE operational in a MF network, despite of whether the UE'sfull identity is granted by the cellular operator or by a serviceprovider.

The query phase includes binding of the MF network identity to theservice provider. The MF network identity can indicate the accessnetwork provider, which can be the same as the Service Provider or itcan be different from the Service Provider. A single access provider canprovide access network for multiple Service providers. After the serviceprovider is selected accordingly, UE may move in the MF network byselecting cells, which have the correct MF identity and omitting cells,whose MF identity does not match. In this selection, further query isnot needed, because the MF network identity is sufficient to ensure theinitially queried information is valid and the same Service Provider isreachable. This binding covers at least all the following; the accessnetwork provider is the same as the Service Provider, the access networkprovider is different from the Service Provider, the access networkprovider provides multiple, a list of, Service Providers.

In addition to finding the service provider, UE may find furtherinformation about at least one of the capabilities and performancemetrics of the MF network or a network segment. This way, the UE mayalready in an early phase, before authentication, decide whether it willtry to access this MF network or not.

In FIG. 6, the interface setup. MF:Interface_Setup is actually aprocedure which will create the necessary logical interfaces in the MFnetwork, and it will result in radio bearer setup between the MF-AP andthe UE, and it will hence create the interface between the UE and thenetwork. The “interface” between the UE and the MF network can be an IPaddress.

Hence the process illustrated in FIG. 6 may actually consist of morethan one elementary procedures. It is noteworthy that the “interface” inFIG. 6 is not drawn to the UE even if it actually creates the interfacefor a UE in the network. That is what happens according to the inventionin the radio bearer setup i.e. the NAS level interface is established ontop of establishing the radio bearer. The “interface” is a logicalhigher layer interface, which may be an IP address, a network interfaceidentifier, an access service set identifier or it may be a conceptionof a bearer, similar to eps-bearer, for example. In an embodimentaccording to what is described above, a bearer may not need to exist ifthe interface is functional by some other logical relationship betweenthe network elements.

After the interface setup as well as the bearer setup, mobility in theMF network is provided by a forward type of handover, but as well abackward type of handover could be provided at least for a robust backupsolution. Further, re-establishment procedures to a new target cell canbe executed, because context fetch from any source cell can be expectedto be fast and executed easily inside a MF network domain.

In another embodiment of the invention, the query procedure may beexecuted as a set of Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages, instead of,or in addition to the NAS-messages. NAS-message, in here, is any messagewhich is exchanged between the UE and the core network entity (MF CN)with or without MF-AP involvement. RRC-procedure can be used forfetching information available in the MF-AP, such as the metricinformation. It is possible that some metric information has to befetched from a more distant network element for example from themini-EPC or from a server. Service Provider information would requirefetching from the MF CN. NAS-procedures can be operational between theUE and the MF CN, hence the procedure called MF:NAS_Query can mean aprocedure, which executes for the NAS access, either in theRRC-procedure, in the NAS-procedure or in combination thereof. So, thesaid MF:NAS_Query is a procedure operating for the NAS, despite of theactual procedural layers it is implemented into.

Generally, NAS access is the concept of the set of non-access stratumsignaling procedures, i.e. the means how UE connects to and ATTACH tothe core network element in the MF network. NAS access is clearlydifferent from WLAN, which is not a cellular network but rather WLAN isan extension of the Ethernet. WLAN works with its permanent deviceEthernet MAC-address and acts as the first/last few tens of meters ofthe Ethernet. NAS concretely defines that MF is a 3GPP compatiblenetwork in its procedures.

In MF NAS network, the UE identification can be linked to the PLMN'sregistry as the home subscription (or to a visited subscription) or to aservice provider registry such as to a uniform resource name (urn). Suchurn could be obtained e.g. by a registration into a web-page.

As described herein, according to the invention, the MF:NAS_Queryprocedure can be used to retrieve network metrics from the LTE basedunlicensed MF network. Some example metrics are given below.

PRB Load:

Percentage of Physical Resource Blocks (PRB) used per sub-frame averagedover a large number of sub-frames. For example, PRB load 5% vs PRB load60% could show a clear difference in the MF network loading in terms ofits average resource usage. This metric can be queried per cell or perMF network. When the metric is queried per MF network, the metric isreturned as averaged over all the cells of the MF network (or a subnet).There may be notable differences in load in different cells in the MFarea.

PRB Peak to Average Ratio:

The ratio of the short term peak number of PRBs occupied divided by thelong term average PRB usage. For example, this ratio could be 20% or500%, which could show that the PRB resource use is very peaky. Forexample for the 20% average PRB load the peak of 20% could consume 24%of PRBs whereas the peak of 500% could consume 100% of PRBsrespectively. The time unit for the peak calculation can be set to avalue from a single sub-frame to a defined number of sub-frames smallerthan the averaging period.

Delay:

Average Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Service Data Unit (SDU)delay (round-trip-time) between the MF-AP and the UE or between thegateway and the UE depending on the definition. This metric can beaveraged over the (population) of served UE and differentiated per QoSclass i.e. the delay can be given per QoS Class Identifier (QCI). Note,the PDCP SDU can typically be for example an IP packet. An IP packetcould for example carry a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) segment ora unit of the User Datagram Protocol (UDP).

CQI Load:

Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) metric can be averaged over a long time.CQI is a measure of signal to interference ratio. MF-AP knows this fromits served UE's reports, and it is indicative of the interference loadin the cell or in the MF network. This metric can be queried per cell orper MF network (or a subnet). When the metric is queried per MF network,the metric is returned as averaged over several UE reports (of linkquality) in all the cells of the MF network. There may still be notabledifferences in CQI loading in different cells in the MF area. Also, theUEs in a single cell may report largely different CQI load due to theirlocation in the cell area. It is also possible that the UE observationsare very heterogeneous i.e. the UE reported CQIs are observed from somelocations (dense) more than from other locations (spare). The eNB caninclude to a CQI load metric a set or a subset of CQI observations froma set or a subset of UEs, the observations of which it considersrelevant for the metric.

FIG. 7 shows the state diagrams of a UE in a MF network. MF networkstates can appear as concurrent to the 3GPP state(s) or the states canbe standalone (without other 3GPP networks). The compound 3GPP statesand MF states are shown in FIG. 7a , and the standalone MF states areshown in FIG. 7 b.

In both cases, the UE state in a MF network is independent of itsstate(s) in the 3GPP networks. Hence, any state in the 3GPP network maylead to the MF connected state. Reference sign 71 in FIG. 7a shows theUE in E-UTRA (LTE) RRC Connected state making a MF Query and possiblyentering to the MF connected state. Reference sign 72 shows the MF statetransition while UE being in the E-UTRA (LTE) RRC Idle state.

In the MF, despite of the state in the 3GPP network, the associate isdone first without a state transition. While associated, the UE may makeQuery according to the embodiments of the invention, whether to getconnected to a MF network or not. If the UE decides, based on the Query,not to attempt connection to a MF network, the UE will remain in theoriginal state, from where it can make an association to anothercandidate MF network and execute Query for that. If UE in any of theseassociations get favorable Query response, the UE can decide to attemptconnecting to the selected MF network. In case the followingNAS-procedure is successful, the UE can reach connected state in theselected MF network. It is also possible that the NAS procedure willlead to a failure e.g. due to authentication error despite of UEselecting a feasible Service Provider, which will cause the UE not toreach the MF connected state but return to the original state. Once ifreaching the MF connected state, it is possible that later the UE fromits own initiative or from the MF network initiative will be releasedfrom the MF network. This is shown by reference sign 73 in FIG. 7 a.

The Query phase is shown in FIG. 7a as a pass-through box, whichindicates that the Query does not form a UE state of its own but israther an intermediate functionality, for information Query according tothe invention, which lets the UE decide to terminate the Query either tothe original state or to the NAS service request attempt towards the MFconnected state, ending to the MF connected state or to a failure returnto the original state. However, yet an alternative embodiment can beenvisioned, where a Query happens in a clearly defined state of its own.

In FIG. 7b , an UE is shown with the standalone MF states. The operationis similar to FIG. 7a in respect to the MF network without anyconcurrent aspect of the 3GPP network. Hence UE in idle state may decideto associate to a MF-AP and do Query according to the invention. If theUE decides, based on the Query, not to attempt connection to a MFnetwork, the UE will remain in the original state, from where it canmake an association to another candidate MF network and execute Queryfor that. If UE in any of these associations get favorable Queryresponse, the UE can decide to attempt connecting to the selected MFnetwork. In case the following NAS-procedure is successful, the UE canreach connected state in the selected MF network. It is also possiblethat the NAS procedure will lead to a failure e.g. due to authenticationerror despite of UE selecting a feasible Service Provider, which willcause the UE not to reach the MF connected state but return to theoriginal state. Once if reaching the MF connected state, it is possiblethat later the UE from its own initiative or from the MF networkinitiative will be released from the MF network. This is shown byreference sign 74 in FIG. 7 b.

Again, the Query phase is shown in FIG. 7 as a pass-through box, whichindicates that the Query does not form a UE state of its own but israther an intermediate functionality, for information Query according tothe invention, which lets the UE decide to terminate the Query either tothe original state or to the NAS service request attempt towards the MFconnected state, ending to the MF connected state or to a failure returnto the original state. However, yet an alternative embodiment can beenvisioned, where a Query happens in a clearly defined state of its own.

A special use case of a NAS procedure as illustrated in FIG. 6 is theaccess procedure to a MF network with service provider query. A MF radioaccess network (MF-RAN) may be connected to the core network of a mobilenetwork operator (MNO), such as the 3GPP evolved packet core network(EPC), and may therefore provide basically conventional access to amobile network, often referred to as PLMN access mode in MF.Alternatively or additionally, the MF-RAN may be operated in a mode,often referred to as neutral host network (NHN) in MF, supporting accessto multiple participating service providers (PSP). A UE accessing a NHNshall be able to retrieve information about the service providers, whichoffer authentication and connectivity via the MF network. One MF networkmay support multiple PSPs, from which the UE may select a preferred PSPduring initial access to the network.

System information (SI) provided in a MF cell may include a list ofavailable PSPs, which may be identified by their names, similar todomain names, to a user. These full names may typically be too long forcostly transmission in SI, since SI resources are scarce in a cell andinformation elements of the SI need to be transmitted periodically withfull-coverage power. Further, operation in unlicensed spectrum mayrequire the execution of a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure beforeeach transmission burst related to SI. Therefore, one may considerbroadcasting of short PSP-IDs in SI instead of the full PSP names, andone may further consider to broadcast in SI only information related toa subset of the available PSPs, for example the most requested PSPs in acell or network area. Therefore, an additional mechanism is needed whichallows a UE in a cell to retrieve thorough information of PSPsassociated with PSP-IDs broadcast in SI, for example, a list of uniqueidentifiers such as full names of PSPs available in the cell. Thismechanism may provide a list comprising full names, of arbitrary lengthfor an arbitrary number of PSPs. The list may be provided in a messageor information element with predetermined or preconfigured maximumlength.

The full names or unique identifiers of the PSPs may be provided in aNAS procedure comprising a respective query. The NAS procedure may beexecuted based on certain enhancements of signaling procedures specifiedin LTE for use in a LTE-based MF network providing access to non-MNOservice providers in unlicensed spectrum. The steps of the NAS procedurerelated to the service provider query may be executed in an LTE-based MFnetwork for a UE entering RRC connected state without triggering orrequesting the NAS attach procedure in LTE, i.e. without triggering EPSbearer setup and/or setup of interfaces for user data transmission.

FIG. 8 shows a signaling diagram of a procedure comprising a NAS serviceprovider query in a LTE-based MF network. A UE may trigger the NASservice provider query when information on available PSPs in a cell isnot sufficient for the UE. The SI in the cell may, for example, notinclude information on PSPs, or may only include a subset of theavailable PSPs or may only include short PSP-IDs when the UE needsunique identifiers of the PSPs, such as full names. The UE may alsotrigger the NAS service provider query when it refrains, for somereason, from reading PSP-related information in the SI.

Steps related to the network identification and MF-AP selection, asshown in FIG. 6, have been omitted in FIG. 8. The “MF: AssociateRequest” in FIG. 6 may comprise a random access attempt to a MF cellmeeting the cell selection criterion. For example, in an LTE-basednetwork the random access procedure may comprise the transmission of afirst message (Msg1) in step 810 from the UE on a physical random accesschannel (PRACH) suitable for operation in unlicensed spectrum.Specifically, the UE may transmit a random access preamble on PRACH instep 810 after reading the cell's random access configuration from SI.

In step 820, the MF-AP may detect the random access preamble sentthrough the PRACH. The MF-AP may then send a second message (Msg2) knownas random access response (RAR) to the UE. The RAR may in particularcomprise a scheduling grant, indicating initial resources for ULtransmission in the next step of the procedure and a temporary C-RNTI(cell radio-network temporary identifier). The UE may determine the RARdestined to it based on the RA-RNTI (random access radio networktemporary identifier) used on a scheduling control channel, such as thePDCCH (physical downlink control channel) in an LTE-based network. TheRA-RNTI in turn may be associated with the PRACH resources used fortransmission of the random access preamble in step 810.

Using the initial resources the UE may send a third message (Msg3) instep 830 comprising control information indicating a request for a queryrelated to a MF network, for example a service provider query in a MFcell. The message may be provided using a preconfigured or predeterminedbearer and channel configuration. For example, in an LTE-based networkthe message may be provided using signaling radio bearer 0 (SRB0) on theCommon Control Channel (CCCH). The radio link control (RLC) layer insuch a network may be configured for data transmission in transparentmode (TM). In an embodiment the UE may use a message similar to theRRCConnectionRequest message in LTE including a cause information, forexample “required PSP”, for indicating a respective query request to thenetwork. The requesting UE may be identified to the MF network through aUE-ID set to a random value, since the UE has not yet selected a PSP, sothat the UE does not know which registered UE-ID it should use.

In step 840 the MF-AP may use said preconfigured or predetermined bearerand channel configuration and respond to the message received in step830. The message in step 840 may comprise a first specific bearer andchannel configuration, similar to SRB1 in LTE, for further transmissionof control information on the Dedicated Control Channel (DDCH). Thefirst specific bearer and channel configuration may be used fortransmission of control information related to the access stratum (AS),i.e. the protocols and parts of the network being specific to the accesstechnique. The first specific bearer and channel configuration mayfurther be used for transmission of control information related to thenon-access stratum (NAS), i.e. protocols between a UE and the corenetwork which are not terminated in the RAN, until a second specificbearer and channel configuration, similar to SRB2 in LTE, for controlinformation related to the NAS has been established. The temporaryC-RNTI may become the C-RNTI after detection of the message in step 840at the UE, and may be used at the physical interface to identify datatransmissions to the UE. Higher layers may still use the UE-ID set to arandom value from step 830 for identifying the UE to the MF network. Inan embodiment the MF-AP may use in step 840 a message similar to theRRCConnectionSetup message in LTE.

In step 850 the UE may respond to the message received in step 840. Themessage in step 850 triggers a NAS query related to the MF network. TheNAS query request and the type of the query may be indicated through arespective information element “NAS Query” in the message of step 850,or may be derived from the cause information transmitted in step 830.Alternatively, an information element “NAS Query” may only indicate thequery request as such, and the MF network may derive the type of thequery, for example a PSP query request, from the cause informationtransmitted in step 830. The message in step 850 may be transmittedusing the first specific bearer and channel configuration. The messagein step 850 may further include information needed for establishing thesecond specific bearer and channel configuration for transmission ofcontrol information related to the NAS. In an embodiment the UE may usein step 850 a message similar to the RRCConnectioSetupComplete messagein LTE. However, the message in step 850 may not contain an attachrequest, unlike the conventional RRCConnectionSetupComplete message inLTE, and will therefore not cause establishment of a transport mechanismfor user data between the UE and the MF-CN. In other words, the messagein step 850 may not connect the UE to the MF-CN by a user data transportmechanism similar to the EPS bearer in LTE, which specifies the routeand certain quality of service parameters for the transmission of userdata between the UE and the MF-CN. The message in step 850 may,therefore, not cause configuration of respective interfaces, for exampleinterfaces similar to the S1 u-plane in LTE, for user data transmission.The message may further not cause authentication of the UE and the MF-CNto each other.

In step 855 the MF-AP may provide information related to the NAS queryin the message of step 850 to the MF-CN.

In step 860 the MF-CN may respond to the NAS query. The second specificbearer and channel configuration may be used for transmitting theresponse to the NAS query. The same random UE-ID may be used in the NASquery and in the response to the NAS query for identifying therequesting UE. The response may be transmitted in a NAS messagecomprising an identifier indicative of the included NAS query responseand potentially the type of the NAS query. In case of a NAS serviceprovider query, the response may comprise a PSP list. This PSP list mayinclude unique PSP identifiers, such as PSP full names, sometimesreferred to as PSP-IDs in the long format. The PSP identifiers may be ofvariable length and the PSP list may include any number of PSPidentifiers. The NAS message carrying the NAS query response may besegmented by the RLC in the MF-AP. The RLC in the MF-AP may beconfigured to operate in acknowledged mode (RLC-AM) or unacknowledgedmode (RLC-UM). The transport of the NAS query response from the MF-AP tothe UE may reuse transport mechanisms established for the transmissionof AS related control information, such as RRC messages in LTE. The NASmessage carrying the NAS query response may be transmitted using thefirst or the second specific bearer and channel configuration. Thesecond specific bearer and channel configuration, similar to SRB 2 inLTE, may be preferred in the case of long NAS query responses. The MF-APmay set up a respective radio resource configuration and respectiveprotocol entities for transmission of the NAS query response. The MF-APmay in particular configure radio resources for the transmission ofuplink control information, similar to the physical uplink controlchannel (PUCCH) in LTE.

A UE executing the NAS query procedure in FIG. 8 is only known to theMF-CN by its random UE-ID after step 860. After receiving the NAS queryresponse the UE may decide to access the MF network, for example, if theNAS query response indicates the availability of a suitable or preferredPSP in a MF cell. For accessing the MF network the UE may transmit amessage comprising a NAS service request, as shown in step 870 in FIG.8. The message in step 870 may identify the selected PSP and may furtherinclude the UE-ID under which the UE is registered at the selected PSP.With transport mechanisms for control information such as the first andthe second specific bearer and channel configuration already beingestablished, the message of step 870 may cause a reconfiguration of theconnection between the UE and the MF-CN. Specifically, the message maycause establishment of a transport mechanism for user data between theUE and the MF-CN, similar to the EPS bearer in LTE. Accordingly, themessage may cause configuration of respective interfaces for user datatransmission, similar to the S1 u-plane in LTE. The message may furthercause authentication of the UE and the MF-CN to each other. In anembodiment the UE may use in step 870 a message similar to theRRCConnectionReconfiguration message, but with cause information “NASservice request” and the selected PSP.

In step 875 the MF-AP may provide information related to the NAS servicerequest in the NAS message of step 870 to the MF-CN. This NAS messagemay cause the MF-CN to perform all steps needed on the side of the MF-CNfor user data transmission between the UE and the MF-CN, such asestablishing a respective transport mechanism and related interfaces,and authentication.

The MF-CN may confirm the NAS service request from the UE in the NASmessage in step 880. The message may include information for attachmentof the UE to the MF-CN, for example information related to theestablished transport mechanism for user data transmission.

In step 885 the MF-AP may provide information needed for attachment ofthe UE received in step 880 to the UE.

In step 890 the UE may confirm attachment of the UE to the MF networkfor service access to the PSP. The message may comprise reconfigurationinformation related to the transport mechanism for user datatransmission between the UE and the PSP.

In case the UE decides after reception of the NAS query response in step860 not to access the MF network, the UE may trigger a connectionrelease operation by sending a respective request to the MF network. TheMF network may then remove all UE context information related to therandom UE-ID from the MF network. In an embodiment the connectionrelease procedure may comprise the transmission of connection releasemessage to the UE, similar to the RRCConnectionRelease message in LTE.

Such an explicit release signaling and the related handshake mechanismrequire time, radio and network resources for maintaining the UE in a MFcell even though the UE has decided not to use the MF cell for access tothe MF network. Further, the connection release procedure using explicitsignaling may not always work reliably, and the UE may, from theperspective of the MF-AP and the MF-CN, simply disappear after thetransmission of the NAS query response. Therefore, the MF-AP and/or theMF-CN may maintain a timer. This timer may for example be started afterdelivery of the NAS query response. Upon expiry of the timer, the MFnetwork may start a connection release procedure, and the MF network mayremove all UE context information related to the random UE-ID from theMF network. The MF-AP may inform the UE about the connection releaseprocedure. In case the connection release procedure is executed for a UEafter transmission of the NAS query response, even though the UEintended to attach to the MF network via the selected MF cell, the UEcan still send a connection request including the selected PSP, itsregistered UE-ID and a NAS service request after performing a RACHprocedure but without repeating the NAS query procedure, since the PSPlist is already available in the UE.

The invention can be implemented to a UE as a set of radio features andsignaling procedures. The invention can be implemented as a networkarchitecture elements and protocols executed therein. The UE can referto any 3GPP device category including smart phones, laptops, wearables,machines and internet of things.

The invention has several advantages. It defines a 3GPP compatiblestandalone network, which can operate on the unlicensed frequency bandsatisfying the unlicensed spectrum access requirements such as bandwidthoccupancy, power levels and listen-before-talk mechanisms.

The invention allows a UE accessing any local dimension network havinge.g. Ethernet connectivity, to connect to a cellular packet core networkelement that is reachable locally.

In comparison to LTE aggregated WLAN solutions, this solution avoids theneed of the eNB to configure the UE for a WLAN access, connectionestablishment. The invention avoids the need of UE to run different setsof protocols for its connectivity (i.e. UE can just run 3GPP instead of3GPP+WLAN systems). Further, this allows simpler and more consistentcontrol operation by the RRC Connection Reconfiguration compared toseparately controlling 3GPP connection and WLAN connection.

In MF network, the UE is in LTE states both in the radio level (idlestate and RRC Connected state/LTE connected state) and towards the corenetwork UE is in the attached state (or detached state). Hence, havingthe MF network protocols, there is no need to introduce any change atradio level (specification and implementation). These issues are notfaced in WLAN, neither these benefits can be reached in WLAN.

The invention with query has additional benefits, such as avoidingbroadcasting long System Information messages with full service provideridentity (e.g. FQDN), avoiding selection of access points which do notoffer the preferred service or preferred service provider selection,avoiding selection of a network, which is not capable of serving withsufficient performance and quality, avoiding unnecessary switching fromthe idle state to the LTE connected state, and avoiding setting up theeps-bearer, interfaces and ATTACH, unnecessarily.

It is to be noted that embodiments of the present invention may beimplemented as circuitry, in software, hardware, application logic or acombination of software, hardware and application logic. In an exampleembodiment, the application logic, software or an instruction set ismaintained on any one of various conventional computer-readable media.In the context of this document, a “computer-readable medium” may be anymedia or means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate ortransport the instructions for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computeror smart phone, or user equipment.

As used in this application, the term “circuitry” refers to all of thefollowing: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such asimplementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry) and (b) tocombinations of circuits and software (and/or firmware), such as (asapplicable): (i) to a combination of processor(s) or (ii) to portions ofprocessor(s)/software (including digital signal processor(s)), software,and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as amobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and (c) tocircuits, such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of amicroprocessor(s), that require software or firmware for operation, evenif the software or firmware is not physically present. This definitionof ‘circuitry’ applies to all uses of this term in this application,including in any claims. As a further example, as used in thisapplication, the term “circuitry” would also cover an implementation ofmerely a processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a processorand its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term“circuitry” would also cover, for example and if applicable to theparticular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or applicationsprocessor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integratedcircuit in server, a cellular network device, or other network device.

If desired, the different functions discussed herein may be performed ina different order and/or concurrently with each other. Furthermore, ifdesired, one or more of the above-described functions may be optional ormay be combined.

Although various aspects of the invention are set out in the independentclaims, other aspects of the invention comprise other combinations offeatures from the described embodiments and/or the dependent claims withthe features of the independent claims, and not solely the combinationsexplicitly set out in the claims.

It should also be understood that the above described exampleembodiments of the invention are not to be viewed in a limiting sense.Rather, there are several variations and modifications which may be madewithout departing from the scope of the present invention as defined inthe appended claims.

The following meanings for the abbreviations used in this specificationapply:

-   3GPP The 3rd Generation Partnership Project-   ANQP Access Network Query protocol-   CQI Channel Quality Indicator-   EPC Evolved Packet Core Network, or a network element-   EPS Evolved Packet System, in here including EPS, and/or MF EPS-   FQDN Fully Qualified Domain Name-   IP Internet Protocol-   LAA Licensed Assisted Access of LTE-   LBT Listen-Before-Talk mechanism to access unlicensed spectrum by    LTE-   LTE-U LTE operating in unlicensed frequency band-   MME Management entity of the MF CN, or a Mobility Management Entity    of the EPC-   MF MuLTEfire; a local area scoped network with NAS access procedures-   MF-AP Access point of a MF network-   MF CN MF core network element-   NAS Non-Access Stratum-   PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol-   PRB Physical Resource Block-   QCI QoS Class Identifier-   RRC Radio Resource Control-   SDU Service Data Unit-   TCP Transmission Control Protocol-   UDP User Datagram Protocol-   UE User Equipment

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: identifying at a userequipment an available access point for accessing a local area scopednetwork having non-access-stratum procedures and a network identity;transmitting from the user equipment a message to the access point,indicating a request for retrieving network information, wherein theinformation is queried from the network without authentication of theuser equipment and before connecting by the user equipment to thenetwork by a non-access stratum procedure; selecting a service provider,being available via the network and having no public land mobile networkidentity, based on received network information for binding the networkidentity to the selected service provider for accessing; and conveying anon-access stratum service request to the network to causeauthentication of the user equipment for connecting to the network foraccess to the selected service provider.
 2. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the network information is exchanged with the networkin at least one of Non-Access Stratum signaling and Radio ResourceControl messages.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein thenetwork information comprises at least one of access information,information of at least one service provider of the network, and networkmetrics.
 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the metricscomprise at least one of a free channel airtime percentage, indicating arelationship between a time when a channel has been detected to be freeand a time when channel has been detected to be occupied, over ameasurement period; a Physical Resource Block load, indicated by apercentage of Physical Resource Blocks used per sub-frame averaged overa large number of sub-frames; a Physical Resource Block peak to averageratio, indicated by the ratio of the short term peak number of PhysicalResource Blocks occupied divided by the long term average PhysicalResource Block usage; an average Packet Data Convergence ProtocolService Data Unit delay between the access point and the user equipment;or a Channel Quality Indicator load averaged over a specific time,indicative of the interference load in the network.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein no bearer establishment is allowed whilethe user equipment is attached to the network in a limited manner duringthe query procedure.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein atemporary Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier is used for signalingthe allocations of radio resources.
 7. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium comprising code adapted to cause an apparatusto perform the steps of claim 1 in response to execution of the code bythe apparatus.
 8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the selectedservice provider offers authentication and connectivity via the network.9. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor, and at least onememory for storing instructions to be executed by the processor, whereinthe at least one memory and the instructions are configured to, with theat least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to performidentifying at a user equipment an available access point of the localarea scoped network having non-access-stratum procedures and a networkidentity; transmitting from the user equipment a message to the accesspoint, indicating a request for retrieving network information, whereinthe information is queried from the network without authorization of theuser equipment and before connecting by the user equipment to thenetwork by a non-access stratum procedure; selecting a service provider,being available via the network and having no public land mobile networkidentity, based on received network information for binding the networkidentity to the selected service provider for accessing; and conveying anon-access stratum service request to the network to causeauthentication of the user equipment for connecting to the network foraccess to the selected service provider.
 10. The apparatus according toclaim 9, wherein the network information is exchanged with the networkin at least one of Non-Access Stratum signaling and Radio ResourceControl messages.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein thenetwork information comprises at least one of access information,information of at least one service provider of the network, and networkmetrics.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the metricscomprise at least one of a free channel airtime percentage, indicating arelationship between a time when channel has been detected to be freeand a time when a channel has been detected to be occupied, over ameasurement period; a Physical Resource Block load, indicated by apercentage of Physical Resource Blocks used per sub-frame averaged overa large number of sub-frames; a Physical Resource Block peak to averageratio, indicated by the ratio of the short term peak number of PhysicalResource Blocks occupied divided by the long term average PhysicalResource Block usage; an average Packet Data Convergence ProtocolService Data Unit delay between the access point and the user equipment;or a Channel Quality Indicator load averaged over a specific time,indicative of the interference load in the network.
 13. The apparatusaccording to claim 9, wherein no bearer establishment is allowed whilethe user equipment is attached to the network in a limited manner duringthe query procedure.
 14. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein atemporary Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier is used for signalingthe allocations of radio resources.
 15. An apparatus according to claim9, wherein the selected service provider offers authentication andconnectivity via the network.
 16. An apparatus including a function forenabling access of a user equipment to a local area scoped networkhaving non-access-stratum procedures, comprising: at least oneprocessor, and at least one memory for storing instructions to beexecuted by the processor, wherein the at least one memory and theinstructions are configured to, with the at least one processor, causethe apparatus at least to perform receiving, at a local area scopednetwork having non-access-stratum procedures and a network identity, amessage from a user equipment, before the user equipment is connected tothe network by a non-access stratum procedure, wherein the messageindicates a request for retrieving network information; accepting therequest without authentication of the user equipment and transmittingnetwork access information to the user equipment; upon receivinginformation about a selection of a service provider being available viathe network and having no public land mobile network identity by theuser equipment, binding the network identity to the selected serviceprovider for accessing; and upon receiving a non-access stratum servicerequest from the user equipment, allowing authentication of the userequipment for connecting to the network for access to the selectedservice provider.
 17. An apparatus according to claim 16, wherein theselected service provider offers authentication and connectivity via thenetwork.
 18. A method comprising: receiving, at a local area scopednetwork having non-access-stratum procedures and a network identity, amessage from a user equipment, before the user equipment is connected tothe network by a non-access stratum procedure, wherein the messageindicates a request for retrieving network information; accepting therequest without authentication of the user equipment and transmittingnetwork access information to the user equipment; upon receivinginformation about a selection of a service provider being available viathe network and having no public land mobile network identity by theuser equipment, binding the network identity to the selected serviceprovider for accessing; and upon receiving a non-access stratum servicerequest from the user equipment, allowing authentication of the userequipment for connecting to the network for access to the selectedservice provider.
 19. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumcomprising code adapted to cause an apparatus to perform the steps ofclaim 18 in response to execution of the code by the apparatus.
 20. Amethod according to claim 18, wherein the selected service provideroffers authentication and connectivity via the network.